New member intro

[M&DinWV]

Hello all.

The wife and I will be building our retirement home in the spring of 2017. In the meantime, we're working to get the property (about 2 acres or so) just the way we want it so when the house is done, we can sit back and relax. One thing I want give my wife is a flower garden oasis. She loves roses, and already has many. Beyond roses, I want to do more. I want a pond to be the centerpiece of the garden. So, as is common in this day and age, I found a knowledgeable forum to join. I won't post much at first, but I'll be busy reading. Questions will come later.
We live in the country on a mountain top in northern West Virginia. Our climate can be harsh at times with temps dipping to -15°F in the winter. I haven't decided on whether we will have fish or not. I'm leaning towards "probably", but just some goldfish for the grand kids to watch. I'm not really interested in any of the exotic fish. The wife may change that in time.
If you will excuse me, I'll go and look for a "If you want a pond and have never had one before...you should read this first." type of thread.

 

[addy1]

to our group of ponding fanatics! We will love to help you build your dream.
Goldfish, shubunkins are tough fish that can survive winters, not as fussy as koi.

 

[tbendl]

Welcome M&DinWV and congratulations on the retirement home! This is a great forum with lots of pond types and a great group of people. Ask away and we look forward to watching you build your pond.

 

[j.w]

M&Din

 

[Big Lou]

Howdy M&N!

 

[sissy]

Well welcome and retired to VA in 2004 from NJ .But I live on the southside near NC and wanted better weather than NJ .We still wanted the seasons and not the typical retirement state .I have friends that live in West Virginia and they are tired of the harsher winters ,But there home was willed to them .

 

[M&DinWV]

Thanks for the welcome folks. I'll make this easier. My name is Monty. I'm the M in M&D.

I'm not quite retired yet Sissy. I turn 50 tomorrow actually. I just want to get the house built while I'm still able to do it myself. I grew up in deep south Texas, but my wife is from right here so after I got out of the Navy we moved here. The hills were a bit daunting to me at first, coming from the scrub deserts surrounding Zapata, but I have come to love this little piece of land and would never consider leaving it.
I don't care for winter, but it does give me a chance to relax and plan next years garden, or some project or other. It also makes me appreciate the beauty of Spring even more, I think.

 

[sissy]

I was in a rush sold my house in NJ fast sold decided a modular since builders here are not so great ,sorry to say I have seen some of there builds and this house with all the extras came out to cost me 65 thousand and with land well basement and septic tank total cost was 89 thousand .I know my house can do 65 mph on the highway also .Yeh those mountain roads and storms are nasty a friend in Galax gets snowed in for weeks at a time and John and Monique head for Ohio for the winter to there second home .<the views are great but they don't plow so well .You and your wife will have to go to the hillsville flea market it is town wide and 2 times a year Memorial day and Labor day .The pics are from lovers leap .The first one is from the flea market

 

[M&DinWV]

Hillsville is a bit far for me. I live in the northern part of WV, so VA is about a 6 hour drive just to the state line. We considered a modular home, but since I work in the construction industry (electrician) I have lots of friends with various construction skills. My best friend is a carpenter (I'm not a bad one myself), another has the excavation equipment, and with other friends, we believe we can probably put the house together pretty well ourselves. I'm working with a guy who owns a construction company (that my carpenter friend works for) and he is willing to sign off as the GC as long as I throw him some of the work. I'm giving him the excavation, concrete, and foundation work as well as the drywall, doors and windows. If all goes well, we should get 3 br/1 bath over a crawl space for <70k. We don't need 3 br's but the wife loves sewing and quilting so one of the extra rooms is for her. The other is for visiting children.

 

[sissy]

My father used to clear lots for Kaplan builders and I know what it is like when you cannot be there to watch the build .But I can warn you crawl spaces are not such a great thing unless insulated well ,they can generate cold up into the house I insulated floors besides basement walls and also heat pumps suck .I did a full basement with 2x6 studs and triple pane windows and 4 baths and 3 bedrooms in 2440 sq ft. .It was built by norris homes in Tenn..I wanted a big house again and 3 acre's of land 15 thousand that I had bought a year before up on a hill .I love it but to much work anymore for 1 person .

 

[M&DinWV]

I have no choice but to go with a crawl space. We have very hard bedrock at 4-5 feet below grade. Excavating it is cost prohibitive. I want the living elevation no more than 16" above grade, so a basement is out, and I won't do slab on grade. Insulating the crawl space is a no brainer for me. Most of the space will be below grade, so it should be no problem holding temps of around 50° with a well insulated foundation wall.

 

[sissy]

I thought that also but mom and dad lived down here and the had an uninsulated basement and both my sisters had uninsulated crawl spaces and they both had to insulate and seal there crawl spaces after moving down here over 20 years ago .So I took there advice and have not looked back and said they were wrong .I did have to move my house over 8 feet because of a huge rock ,but that was all so I was lucky .Maybe rock will hold more heat.I just had more friends move here also .So are you doing an above ground pond or half and half .I hope you have an easy build since you have time and lots of friends you will be OK

 

[RobAmy]

Welcome

 

[CountryEscape]

Welcome, Monty. You will enjoy this Forum for sure, people on here become family very quickly! And, once you get ready to build, we will all appreciate watching the sweat and hard work, while we sit by our ponds with our coffee and give pointers, having been there ourselves. LOL If you need some plants, there are many on this forum (myself included) that share plants just for postage paid, so keep that in mind.

 

[Andy41]

Hello all.

The wife and I will be building our retirement home in the spring of 2017. In the meantime, we're working to get the property (about 2 acres or so) just the way we want it so when the house is done, we can sit back and relax. One thing I want give my wife is a flower garden oasis. She loves roses, and already has many. Beyond roses, I want to do more. I want a pond to be the centerpiece of the garden. So, as is common in this day and age, I found a knowledgeable forum to join. I won't post much at first, but I'll be busy reading. Questions will come later.
We live in the country on a mountain top in northern West Virginia. Our climate can be harsh at times with temps dipping to -15°F in the winter. I haven't decided on whether we will have fish or not. I'm leaning towards "probably", but just some goldfish for the grand kids to watch. I'm not really interested in any of the exotic fish. The wife may change that in time.
If you will excuse me, I'll go and look for a "If you want a pond and have never had one before...you should read this first." type of thread.

Welcome to the Forum Monty. Everyone's really helpful and friendly here.

You should have a chat with @Dave 54... i think he's Ex Royal Navy.

cheers,

Andy.